Harrison Ford on the Han Solo–Indiana Jones Encounter That Never Was

Harrison Ford was so literally unmoved by the standing ovation he received onstage at Comic-Con on Thursday, that when Ender’s Gamedirector Gavin Hood was asked what his favorite prop from the futuristic film was, he replied, “Harrison Ford.” This response stirred a slight head nod from the 71-year-old actor.

“Look, he moved!” deadpanned Hood to laughter from the audience.

Although Harrison’s palpable curmudgeonliness—a signature personality trait for the actor during press rounds—may have been enough to intimidate some audience members, it could not deter the most passionate of fan boys from attempting to pose some usually off-limits questions. In fact, two Comic-Con-ers were so excited by the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that they even dared ask the actor about his iconic Star Warscharacter, Han Solo—a subject that, if you’ve ever seen Ford in an interview, you know not to broach.

One T-shirt-clad audience member stepped up to Hall H’s communal mic and began, “If Han Solo and Indiana Jones were to meet . . . ”

Unable to take the impending awkwardness, moderator Chris Hardwick cut him off immediately.

“O.K., I’m gonna stop you right there,” Hardwick said as Comic-Con-ers, aware of Ford’s aversion toStar Wars discussion, went wild. After a few more seconds of laughter, though, Hardwick relented. “Oh, just do it!” he told the questioner. “I want to know, too.”

“If Han and Indy met,” the audience member continued, “what would be their first words to each other?"

Ford, unable to hear over the din of fan-boy enthusiasm, wondered, “What was it?” After fellow panel members reiterated the question, Ford looked out into the audience and acted out the impossible conversation between his two most famous characters. “Hi,” he said slowly, as if sounding out the word for the hearing impaired.

A beat to let this sink in.

“How are you?” he added, equally as slow.

The answer elicited roars from the crowd, and unbelievably, another Han Solo–related question from a courageous Brazilian audience member whom, moderator Hardwick noted, evoked the uncontainable enthusiasm of Roberto Benigni.

“So, Mr. Ford, do you think Han Solo would make a good soldier for Commander Graff’s army?” he asked, referring to the manipulative colonel that Ford plays in Ender’s Game.

“I don’t think Han Solo would be good as a soldier in anybody’s army,” Ford replied, to Hall H applause. “I think he’s what we call now an ‘independent contractor.’”

Despite his surliness, the legendary actor did soften slightly with Comic-Con’s Roberto Benigni, who mentioned that he grew up fantasizing about being Indiana Jones. “You and I have a lot in common,” replied Ford. “I used to dream about being Indiana Jones when I was younger, too.” Then, Ford added the obvious: “Not so much anymore.”